Heavy duty spools having round flange plates connected by a central cylindrical core piece, upon which unfilled plastic bags sized to hold disposable diapers are wound, have been used for many years. Such spools normally have been made from wood and steel and generally weigh about 25 pounds each. More particularly, such wood spools are formed with plywood flange plates, hollow cores and threaded steel rods that hold the plywood flange plates flush against the cores.
Even though such wood spools have been used in the past, they are not without drawbacks. First, because the spools are fabricated from wood and steel, the spools must be lined with a suitable material, such as polyethylene, prior to winding the unfilled plastic bags thereon to avoid splintering and/or tearing the plastic bags. Such a plastic liner obviously adds to the cost of using the wood spools for storing and shipping the unfilled plastic bags.
Second, the wood spools are difficult to dispose of following their use. This disposal problems is underscored by the fact that the wood spools cannot be burned since they include steel rods. Alternatively, the wood spools are not reused due to the cost associated with shipping the empty wood spools back to the plastic bag manufacturing facilities. This excessive shipping costs can be attributed to the fact that each empty wood spool generally weighs approximately 25 pounds and that the unfilled plastic bags are typically manufactured and wound upon the wood spools at geographical locations which in some cases are located far from where the disposal diapers are manufactured and packaged. Consequently, the shipping costs associated with the used empty wood spools generally exceeds the cost to manufacture new wood spools at locations relatively near the facilities for manufacturing the plastic bags.
Third, because the wood spools have been fabricated with round flange plates, costly containers and foam saddles are required to package the loaded wood spools for shipment to prevent the wood spools from rolling. Moreover, costly viewing holes must be drilled through the plywood flange plates adjacent the cores prior to winding the unfilled plastic bags onto the wood spools so that the unfilled plastic bags can be effectively visualized and monitored as they are wound onto and unwound from the wood spools.
Consequently, there is a need in the spool industry and in particular disposable diaper industry for an economical, lightweight, disposable and durable heavy duty spool which has the ability to carry industrial quantities of product, such as unfilled plastic or paper bags which are sized to hold disposable diapers, which do not require costly liners to avoid splintering and/or tearing the plastic or paper bags wound thereon, which can be manufactured and shipped inexpensively, and which can be either economically reused or economically disposed of in a manner consistent with environmental requirements.